The announcement comes as many parts of the U.S. have taken extraordinary measures to health the spread of the coronavirus. California officials announced a complete lockdown of the Bay Area, including San Francisco, that requires people to stay home except for essential needs.

Americans abroad scramble to get home as countries deepen travel restrictions

Americans stuck in countries around the world are calling on U.S. officials to help them return home as governments have restricted travel to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

Phil McMannis, a tech entrepreneur, and his wife, Jerri, have been trying to get home to Boston from Fez, Morocco, since Friday. It was the last leg of a yearlong trip around the world. Their flight on March 22 was canceled, and the couple has had no luck trying to rebook.

“The local people are offering to help and are talking to us, but our own government has said nothing,” said McMannis, adding that he had reached out to the U.S. Embassy and his senators.

Marriott starting to furlough tens of thousands of employees

Marriott International Inc., which employs more than 175,000 people worldwide, has started to furlough what it expects will be tens of thousands of those workers as its properties close.

The furloughs, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, were confirmed to NBC News by Marriott, which is the world's largest hotel company. The employees won't be paid but will keep their health benefits.

Marriott started closing some of its managed properties across its 30 brands last week and is also furloughing staff at still-open hotels. In a statement Tuesday, the company said customers could cancel their stays at no charge through April 30.

"As travel restrictions and social distancing efforts around the world become more widespread, we are experiencing significant drops in demand at properties globally with an uncertain duration," the chain said in a statement. "We are adjusting global operations accordingly which has meant either reduction in hours or a temporary leave for many of our associates at our properties."

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Minyvonne Burke

82d ago / 5:14 PM UTC

Uber and Lyft suspend shared ride options

An Uber driver wears a surgical mask while driving in Manhattan on March 15, 2020.Jeenah Moon / Reuters

Uber and Lyft customers will no longer be able to request shared rides due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Andrew Macdonald, senior vice president of Uber Rides and Platform, said in a series of tweets on Tuesday that the company hopes by suspending its UberPool in the United States and Canada it can "help flatten the curve of community spread in the cities we serve."

Lyft announced a similar plan, saying in a statement that it is "pausing Shared rides across all of our markets."

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Alexander Smith

82d ago / 5:15 PM UTC

World needs many more ventilators to save coronavirus patients. It is unlikely to get them.

LONDON — Ventilators have quickly become the most sought-after medical device in the world because of their ability to help save the lives of some of the sickest coronavirus patients.

What worries experts is that it's increasingly clear many countries — including the United States and much of Europe — have nowhere near enough of them to keep pace with a pandemic killing exponentially more people every day.

Obama pays tribute to health professionals

We owe a profound debt of gratitude to all our health professionals and everybody who’ll be on the front lines of this pandemic for a long while. They’re giving everything. May we all model our own behavior on their selflessness and sacrifice as we help each other through this. https://t.co/F3tsJTqd4c

New York state study predicted severe shortfall of ventilators in a pandemic

In 2015, a New York state task force predicted that an influenza pandemic as serious as the 1918 Spanish flu would mean a severe shortfall in ventilators for thousands of hospitalized patients who needed help breathing.

The New York State Task Force on Life and the Law said a model based on the 1918 pandemic indicated there would be more than 800,000 hospital admissions in the state, and 90,000 of those patients would need ventilators.

During the peak week of the pandemic, the task force’s report said that about 19,000 flu patients would need ventilators, but there would be shortfall of nearly 16,000. Patients with other diseases would already be using most of the ventilators, meaning that only about 2,800 would be available for flu patients .

The projections were based on a state population of 19.75 million and a state capacity of 8,981 ventilators. Five years later, the population is 19.44 million. The governor’s office says the state currently has under 10,000 ventilators, with about 4,000 available for use at any one time, meaning not already in use by patients.

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Ben Popken

82d ago / 4:46 PM UTC

Primary states voting Tuesday take steps to limit coronavirus risks

The blue painter’s tape issued to poll workers in Cook County, Illinois, has a particularly important use this year: marking off 6-foot increments to make sure people maintain a safe distance from one another.

“It is our job to ensure the safety of those around us while we carry out our civic duty today,” tweeted County Clerk Karen Yarbrough.

Arizona, Florida and Illinois are proceeding with Tuesday’s primaries, but officials are stressing alternatives, such as voting by mail, and telling voters to be on the lookout for changes due to coronavirus precautions.

Facebook giving $1,000 bonuses to employees

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has informed the company's 45,000 employees that they will all receive a $1,000 bonus to help them during the coronavirus outbreak, Facebook sources told NBC News on Tuesday.

Facebook employees will also receive at least their full bonuses for the current six-month period, the sources said. The news, first reported by The Information, came on the same day that Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg announced that Facebook would be investing $100 million to help small businesses in over 30 countries.

Facebook will also send thousands of its content moderators home but will continue to pay them.

Taken together, the steps mark the most aggressive effort yet by a major American company to alleviate the financial toll of the coronavirus outbreak.

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Caroline Radnofsky and Matthew Mulligan

82d ago / 4:43 PM UTC

Granddaughter shows grandfather through window of isolated care home that she’s engaged

Carly Boyd shows her grandfather, Shelton, her engagement ring through a window at the locked down Premier Living and Rehab Center in N.C. Premier Living and Rehab Center

Photos of a young woman telling her grandfather about her engagement through the window of a care home under lockdown have highlighted the impact coronavirus is having on families.

Carly Boyd is seen in photos excitedly showing her grandfather Shelton her new engagement ring through the window of his bedroom at the care home.

Dow surges after Mnuchin says the government will be "sending checks to Americans immediately"

Markets received a boost Tuesday morning after the White House coronavirus task force announced further response to the economic fallout from the pandemic.

"We're going big," President Donald Trump said at a White House briefing.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared to 1,000, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 notching gains of around 6 percent each.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the government would be "sending checks to Americans immediately," and announced a "very significant economic stimulus plan" that would be presented to Congress.

Wall Street also bounced back after the Federal Reserve announced new action Tuesday as part of its sweeping emergency measures to shore up the economy.

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Kristen Welker

82d ago / 3:33 PM UTC

Maryland postpones primary election slated for April to June

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced Tuesday that he's postponing his state's primary that was scheduled for April 28 to June 2.

"I am issuing a proclamation to postpone the April 28 primary to June 2, just as a number of other states have done and as other governors are expected to do later today or in the days ahead," he said at a press conference.

"I am directing the state board of elections to develop a comprehensive plan by April 3 to conduct the primary election in a way that protects public health and preserves the integrity of the democratic process in our state," he said.